Recently I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Tom Holland’s Dominion, his epic history of Christianity and its influence on western culture. It’s one of the most interesting (and well-written) works of history I’ve read in some time. Holland approaches the subject from a historical and classicist perspective, versus a religious or theological one, which is unique for many religious histories. And he does so very respectfully of the faith itself, not with a cold, matter-of-fact historian’s eye.

Because it’s been great so far, Holland has a few other books I’ve added to the reading backlog, including works on the Persians and the fall of the Roman Empire.

Through reading more about him I also discovered his podcast The Rest Is History, hosted by him and Dominic Sandbrook, another historian mostly focused on modern history. Their show is excellent, and every episode so far has been a pleasure. My binging streak started from the early episodes, but I’ve jumped around a good bit to different topics I’m more curious about.

Here few of my favorites:

• Watergate (2 part series)
• The Second Reich — From the Prussian victory over France to the First World War, a time period I knew little about.
• The Mystery of the Cathars
• The Hundred Years’ War
• Thermopylae & Salamis — This 2-parter is Tom in his element.
• Ronald Reagan and the American Dream